[Jellyhead]

Right, I need some serious help now :shock: none of my little Polands are surviving :cry:  :cry: Poor little Pootle has died now :cry:  :cry:  :cry: Lily said her wings were slightly droopy but that was yesterday afternoon. She was alive this morning and when I got back I went out to check them all and she was dead on the floor. No blood, no obvious signs of anything..................AGAIN. Now I do know that they are quite hard to raise, the lady I got them from has given up cos she said they are too fragile :shock:  now I know for myself. She was running around with 4 other chicks (not Polands). They are all ok and she isnt :cry:  :cry: I havent got a single Poland that has survived, I have two more babies, Baby Pootle and Posy but I am really worried for them now
HAS ANYONE GOT ANY IDEAS ON THIS ONE.....PLEASE

[naturesparadise]

could it be something like Mareks i know sebrights are prone to it

maybe take one of the dead ones to a vet and get them to run some tests
but that wont be cheap

[Vember]

Oh Jelly that's so sad :cry:

I have my 2 Poland Frizz babies in the house they will be 2 weeks old tomorrow. I have a basic red bulb on them with min daily temp of 26 degrees c and max 29 deg c. They started off at 35 degrees c but I've gradually lowered it.

I had read that Polands aren't has hardy a breed which is why I took the decision to fetch them in.

I would have thought your outside temps and general weather conditions would be so much better than here that they'd be ok. It's not damp or anything is it?

I know it's not really much help to you but that's what I've done


Really Sorry

[Jellyhead]

its been lovely and warm here and the odd thing is that they just suddenly die and the others are fine. It did rain last night but not that much :? Thing is I have 2 hens now each with 1 baby Poland, the hen wants to go out and I feel bad taking the babies away. Do you think thats what I should do then?

[Vember]

I think with the amount you've had pass away I would be tempted to let the Mum's go out and get the little ones in under heat.

If something is still going wrong and they always come from the same breeder the other thing is is it a genetic fault :?

Oh Jelly its so hard to know what to do for the best  :cry:

[Porffor]

no advice from me but seriously big hugs and fingers tightly crossed.

[chookiepaula]

so sorry to hear, you mentioned droopy wings which can be a sign of mareks as someone has already said, if you decide to get a post-mortem done get it done by a poultry specialist vet and normal vets tend to have little if any experience, although thankfully this is slowly changing.
temp fluctuations can be a reason for babies to die with no real signs so moving them under a heatlamp which will remain constant may help.

Paula

[blulagoo]

Jellyhead, so sorry to hear the news. Hope you manage to find out what is causing it and the other two are safe. Do whatever you feel is the best thing for them.

[kimT]

So sorry to hear your news I hope the others will be ok and hope you get to the bottom of the problem.

[Aunt Sally]

Oh dear...  I agree sound as if it could be Marek's.

Very contageous and some breeds including silkies and polands are more suseptable than others

They obviously picked it up at the breeders as she has had the problem too.

[naturesparadise]

if it is mareks you need to get all your birds injected ASAP with the vaccine

or you run the risk of losing your hole flock

[Kate and her Ducks]

Oh I'm so sorry Jelly. Sending big hugs.

As you know I don't know anything about chickens except what I have picked up here but I do think that I would seriously think about getting a post mortem on Pootle to get an answer and try to protect the others if possible.

[Jellyhead]

But, given that I have had the Poland adults for over a year, and the babies born from April have died, and no other chook has been affected, could it actually be Mareks. Surely if it was any type of contagious virus it would have affected some of the other chooks?
What do you think?
Perhaps I could take Baby Pootle and Posy away from their mums and put them in with Talulah who is still stunted and not completely feathered. Then give them all some anti cocc and extra vitamins in their water. Its still very warm indoors so I really dont think I need a lamp.
What do you think?

[naturesparadise]

well you could do just make sure they dont pick on the stunted one

also it may not be Mareks it could just be a bad batch of eggs

IE. inbreeding in your suppliers flock

[Jellyhead]

aah, now theres a thought, the lady stopped breeding the Polands cos she said they were too fragile. Its such a shame cos I really hoped to keep my Polands going by breeding from Alvin, Toyah and Popcorn. If thats the case, then I have a X Poland female that it quite big now, perhaps I could let her do it :shock: with Alvin and then just hope for the best :? or try and find another breeder (very difficult) and get a new line in.